Casting apparatus



(No Model.)

E'. W. WOOD. CASTING APPARATUS.`

2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

Patented Nov. 30, 1897.

-A HNEY.

TH: Nnnms Penna ce4 Fumoumo.. wAsmNoToN, n. c.

(No M odel.) i 2 Sheets- Sheet F. W. WOOD. v

CASTING APPARATUS.

No. 594,583. :Patented Nov. 3o, '1897;

m: Nnnms #Evans ouv. morou'rno., wnsuwmon. n. c.

UNITED STATES- ATENT Trios.

FREDERICK W. WOOD, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

CASTING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 594,583, dated November 30, 1897.

i Application filed Febrary l5, 1897. Serial No. 623,502. (No model.)

. lows and other defects'in the ingot. f

With this end in view my invention consists in combining with a stationary mold,

containing an opening therethrough from end to endr a movable lining toreceive the molten metal and means for controlling` the movement of said lining to discharge the casting from one end of the mold as themolten metal is continuously introduced into its other end.

The invention also consists in the details of construction and combination of parts hereinafter describedV and claimed.

In 4the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 i a vertical sectional elevation through my improved apparatus on the line a a of Fig. V2. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same. Fig; 3 is a horizontal section, on an enlarged scale, through the mold and its lining on the line b b of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a similar View with the parte in slightly-modied form. Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation of still another modification.

Referring to the drawings, my improved apparatus comprehends, mainly, a stationary mold 1, having an opening therethrough from end to end, and a movable lining in the form of thin steel polished bands B, B', B2, and B3, extending through the opening in the mold and jointly coveringits interior surface. The mold is in the present instance formed with an opening square in cross-section, and is provided With chambers 2 for the circulation of a cooling medium, such as water, cold air, &c. It is in two sections, as shown in Fig. 3, to permit of the removal of the bands when necessary, and these sections` are connected together firmly by bolts 3, as plainly shown in Fig. 2. The mold is sustained in a xed vertical position by means of lugs 4 on itsopposite sides adapted to be seated on lugs 5, projecting inwardly from two standards 6, constituting a frame which gives support also to the operative parts of the apparatus hereinafter described. These two standards are of right-angular form in cross-section and are sustained on a bed-plate 7, with the apexes of the angles facing each other, the bed-plate being supported in turn by columns 8.

The four bands before alluded to constituting the lining of the mold, enter the top of the mold, at which point the interior faces of the mold are rounded or curved outward to facilitate the introduction of the molten metal between the bands, andV the latter extend iiatly over these rounded portions of the mold downward through the mold and outward'at its lower end. The band B passes over an upper guide-wheel 9, mounted in a bearingblock 10, which is in turn mounted to move to a limited extent vertically in guides 11, formed in the upper end of the standard 6 at one side. It also passes over a lower drivewheel12, fixed to a shaft 13, mounted in a hanger 13a and a bearing sustained by the standard below the guide-wheel. The other vbands B2, B3, and B are similarly guided and driven by guide-wheels 14, 14, and 14b and lower drive-wheels 15, 15?, and 15b, which wheels are mounted' in bearings similar in form and arrangement to those just described.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the four bands are arranged opposite each other in pairs and completely cover the` four interior faces of the mold, passing into the upper end of the mold from the four guide-wheels, verticallyT downward through the same, and from its lower end over the drive-wheels. Motion is imparted to the drivewheel 12 from any suitable source through its shaft 13, which is extended at one side, as shown in Fig. 2, to receive the power. From this shaft motion is imparted to drive-wheel 15 by means of a bevel-gear 16, fixed to said shaft and engaging a bevel-gear 17, xed to the shaft of wheel 15. Drive-wheel 15b is vdriven by a bevel-gear 18, fixed to shaft 13, meshing with a bevel-gear 19, xed to the shaft of drive-wheel 15b. Drive-wheel 151L is driven by means of a bevel-gear 20, fixed to the shaft of drive-Wheel 15,wliich gear meshes 'with a bevel-gear 21, iixed to the shaft of drive- ICO wheel l5, From this arrangement of gearing the rotation of the shaft 13 in the proper direction will cause all the drive-wheels to turn in the same direction, drawing the four bands downward through the mold from over the guide-wheels.

In the operation of casting by my improved apparatus I proceed as follows: The bands having been previously coated with graphite, soot, or other suitable material to facilitate the separation of the ingot, the space between these bands at a point within the mold near its lower end is closed by means of a plug ot iron, asbestos, or other suitable material, as indicated by dotted lines at 22, Fig. l. Molten metal is then poured in at the top ot the mold between the bands in acontinuous stream, and when the metal rises in the mold to about the point indicated by dotted lines at 23 the drive-wheels carrying the bands are set in motion and the bands slowly move downward through the mold, their speed being so regulated that the tendency of the metal to rise will be counteraeted by the downward movement of the body of metal, thereby maintaining the level of the metal at practically the same point within the mold. Tater or other cooling` medium being circulated through the chambers in the mold, the outer portion ot the molten metal will instantly cool and harden. By the time a `given portion of the ingot has reached the lower end of the stationary mold its walls will have become thick enough to withstand the pressure of the molten metal above and the casting will issue from the bands at the lower end of the mold as a continuous bar free from hollows, holes, or other imperfections. The casting or ingot may be further sprayed to cool it as it leaves the bands, or it may be passed through a seeond hollow mold or casing 2l and there subjected to the action of a cooling medium circulated through this casing. At any suitable point beyond the mold the casting it issues therefrom may be severed into lengths for the market.

The casting produced in the manner described will be free from the usual shrinkagecavities so common in ingots east in a stationary mold, the weight ot the overlying body of soft metal in my apparatus as it is introduced into the mold being exerted vertically on account of the vertical position of the mold, insuring a solid and homogeneous casting.

It will be observed that in my apparatus the metal is wholly surrounded by the bands, and they being thin the heat is rapidly withdrawn by the cold surrounding Iixed mold, the result being a rapid cooling and hardening of the casting.

\Vhile I have described and illustrated a mechanism embodying my invention in a practical form and one which I prefer to adopt, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to this particular form.

forms in a cross-section, as triangular, or, as shown in Fig. et, the corners of the mold may be rounded. In this case, while the bands will not meet at their edges, the limited uncovered space ol the mold at its corners will not interfere to any material extent with thc advance ot the body of metal within the bands as the bands are moved through the mold. Further, it is not necessary that the bands be endless, for, as shownin Fig. 5, they could be connected at their ends to rollers 25 and 2U and adapted to be wound on the roll 9U from the roll 25.

It is important that the bands be lnaintained under such tension that they will pass closely and flatly against the faces of the mold. I insure this result by means of weighted levers C, pivoted to the standards adjacent to the guide-wheels, as at c, and having their inner ends extending beneath depending extensions C on the bearing-blocks of the guide-rollers. These levers will ioree the blocks upward in their guides with a yielding pressure and will hold the bands tightly against the sides of the mold.

In order that the bands may be held ilatly against the drive-wheels t o insure their movement by the wheels, I provide each wheel with a pressure-roller D, mounted on the end of an arm d, pivoted at its inner end to the standard. The contact of the roller with the band is maintained and controlled by a conneeting-rod d', jointed to the arm and to the standard and having a turnbuckle or adjusting-nut d2 to regulate the pressure of the roll.

By arranging the mold in a vertical position with the bands passing downward vertically through the opening therein, as in the apparatus described, peculiar advantages will result when employed for casting steel ingots in that there will be no liability of the ingot cracking, inasmuch as it passes in a straight line while between the bands, the latter moving with it and not relatively to it. This is of great importance when is considered the great care required in handling ingots at the tender7 stage of their formation. Unless handled with the greatest care the skin or wall of the ingot will crack. In my apparatus the casting is not subjected to any lateral strain or bending action, nor is there any relative movement of the mold and ingot, inasmuch as the lining ol' the mold follows the ingot in a straight line, the lateral separation of the bands from the ingot not being of such nature as to cause any injury to the same.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim isl. The combination with a fixed mold or easing provided with a vertical opening therethrough from end to end and with a chamber or chambers surrounding said opening, of thin metallic bands extending through the openin g in the mold and Ilatly against its in- For instance, the fixed mold may be of other terior sides and jointly wholly covering the IOO IIO

IZO

same, means for moving the bands downward through the mold and means for circulating a cooling medium through the surrounding chamber.

2. The combination with a xed mold or casing provided with a vertical opening therethrough from end to end of rectangular form in cross-section and with asurrounding chamber orchambers, of four thin metallic bands extending downward through said opening and flatly over the four interior sides of the mold, means for moving said bands downward through the, mold, and means for circulating a cooling medium Vthrough the surrounding chamber.

3. The combination with the iixed mold or casing provided with an opening therethrough from end to end, of the bands extending through said opening, and the rolls over which said bands pass, said rolls having their peripheral surfaces situated laterally beyond the respective interior sides of the mold; whereby the rolls will have a tendency to maintain the close contact of the bands against the interior sides of the mold.

4. The combination with the fixed mold or casing provided with a vertical opening there- 

